Alex Posted December 4, 2005 Share Posted December 4, 2005 Does any one know if you can have a good exercise plan just using small dumbells and your own body weight. I dont have much money or access to a gym. I also walk for like 30-45 min almost everyday with my mom (trying to get her to do atleast some exercise). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesty leroux Posted December 4, 2005 Share Posted December 4, 2005 Here's a link to some bodyweight exercises by vegan Mike Mahler. http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/mahler57.htm and here a link to a bunch of bodyweight exercise workouts. http://www.trainforstrength.com/workouts.shtml Heres some dumbell exerciseshttp://www.keepinline.com/DumbellExercises.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert Posted December 4, 2005 Share Posted December 4, 2005 Hey Alex, I posted this somewhere else on the forum and it's on the main site but it may help you out so I put it here: As you can see, I wrote it a couple of years ago but I think there are still some good suggestions: -Robert 6/5/03What can I do if I want to get in shape and gain muscle but I don’t have a gym membership? Sarah N.Boston, Mass. This is a common situation for a lot of people. Gym memberships can expensive and you usually need some means of transportation to get there. So if you are in a situation where at the present time you can’t afford a gym membership, you don’t have a way of getting there, you live too far away from a gym, or don’t “make” the time to get to the gym, here are some suggestions for you. Keep these questions in mind. Do you need a treadmill to run? Do you need a stair-stepper to climb stairs? Do you need a stationary bike with a TV in front of you to cycle? Do you need a stretching room to stretch your muscles? Do you need a special machine to do pull-ups or sit-ups? Do you need dumbbells to curl weight? Do you need barbells or machines to move weight? I grew up on a farm, where I had access to countless muscle-producing tools, although I didn’t realize until I became a bodybuilder. Now when I go back to the farm, I take the opportunity to shrug buckets full of dirt or water, jog outside in the fresh air, and do pull-ups from a tree limbs. Here are some exercises you can do for different muscle groups outside of a gym. They can be done at home, at a park, or anywhere that you have access to some of these “tools.” Cardio is something you can ALWAYS do for free and do anywhere. Running, jumping, walking, are things you can do in nearly every situation. Biking, swimming, and climbing stairs, are great cardio exercises that are also pretty easy to come by. First of all if you want to warm-up, just go for a jog, climb some stairs, or even a bike ride. Stretch out your muscles and decide what you want to do in your workout. Back—Pull-ups are a great exercise for the back. All you need is something to grab onto to pull yourself up, a sturdy pipe, a tree limb, or even a structure at the park. Variations can be included as well, close-grip, wide-grip, partial reps, etc. You can perform bent-over rows with buckets full of sand, dirt, gravel, or water. Use them like dumbbells. You can do deadlifts the same way. Find heavy objects that are not too awkward to pick up and perform your exercise. One-arm dumbbell rows can be done kneeling on a park bench using a heavy bucket, or other device with a handle on it. Chest—Push-up variations are something that can be done easily, close, wide, one-arm, super-sets and drop-sets included as well. Dips aren’t too hard to come by outside of the gym either. Find a structure at home, at the park, on the farm, downtown, that you can grip and lower yourself, and push yourself back up. You can do flys with gallon jugs filled with water. Lie on a bench and perform the fly movement you would if you had dumbbells. Other objects can be substituted for the gallon jugs, whatever you can find that is heavy enough to get the job done. Shoulders—Shrugs are one of the easiest things to do. Find heavy objects, my favorites are large buckets filled with something dense, and use them for shoulder shrugs. Lateral and front raises can be done with the gallon jug filled with water, or even buckets, just vary the weight. Shoulder presses can be done with a heavy piece of wood, heavy box, an old car tire, or anything of the sort, be creative. Arms—Bicep curls with heavy buckets, wood, gallon jugs, pipes, or even random items like a vacuum, bicycle, wooden chair work just fine. You could even find a rope and tie a heavy object at the end and use it for biceps and many other muscle groups. Find objects to curl with one arm and two arms. Select a grip to perform concentration curls, hammer curls, and supinated bicep curls. Triceps kickbacks can be performed with the filled gallon jug, or even a heavy tool or wood or metal object. Overhead extensions can be done with the same items. Dips for triceps can be done as well. Just change your grip and position to take the stress off the chest and direct it to the back of the arms. Abs—Hanging leg raises are probably the best exercise you can do for abs. Hang from a tree, steel bar, pipe, or wooden ledge and perform this exercise. Sit-ups on the floor, in the grass, or any other soft surface can easily be done anywhere. I have even done them on the side of the freeway on long road trips. There are countless variations of sit-ups so this is a muscle group that can really be targeted anywhere. Legs—Free squats without weights can be done as well as with weight. Lift up an object and place it over your shoulders. Perform squats just like you would in the gym. In this case you won’t be able to go as heavy as you could in the gym, unless you build a devise to rack the weight on to allow you to walk under it to get started. Lunges can be done with the heavy object over your shoulders as well, or with weight in your hands. Buckets would probably be too tall and hit the ground when you lunge, but filled gallon or 2-gallon jugs would be fine. Supersets, and rest-pauses can be implemented to get a burn since the weight won’t be as heavy. Calf raises can be done on stairs, one or two legs at a time. You can add weight to this exercise by using your weighted bucket, gallon jug, or other object you find at home that has significant weight to it. Keep in mind that these are just a few exercises that I came up with. You can also take these exercises and apply them with different strategies using drop-sets, supersets, rest-pauses, partial-reps, isolated movements, High Intensity Training, and other training principles. Use your creativity to find objects around the house, at your workplace, or in the park to build your physique and achieve your fitness goals. Remember that nutrition is more than half the battle, so refer to some of our nutrition pages for guidance for the most important part of the equation. Good luck, invent some new exercises, and build your body, no matter where you live or what your situation is. Big Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willpeavy Posted December 4, 2005 Share Posted December 4, 2005 Does any one know if you can have a good exercise plan just using ... your own body weight. Hey Alex, you can do: pushups - here's a page with some variations of pushups you can do as you advance http://www.gettingfit.com/pushups.html pullups/chinups (just go to your local sporting goods store and you can usually find a chinup bar that you can install in a doorway for $10-$20) - here is one of my favorite chinup articles http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/charles4.htm situps - http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/exercises.php?Name=Sit-Up - hold one of your dumbbells behind your head if you want ot make this exercise more challenging one leg squats - here's an article that can help you work on doing one leg squats http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/mahler2.htm . If you don't have stairs at your house, just use a chair or boxes/crates instead Here's a sample plan you could use: Day 1 - pushupsDay 2 - situpsDay 3 - pullups / chinupsDay 4 - one leg squatsDay 5 - rest After Day 5 go back to Day 1 and repeat the cycle. Do as many reps as you can each day and you'll be strong in no time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert Posted December 4, 2005 Share Posted December 4, 2005 Hey Will, Were my suggestions too complicated for you? I think we said about the same thing, yours was just more concise -Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willpeavy Posted December 4, 2005 Share Posted December 4, 2005 Hey Will, Were my suggestions too complicated for you? I think we said about the same thing, yours was just more concise -Rob I didn't read your whole post, since it was long I was just lazy about reading it I'll read it now though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted December 5, 2005 Author Share Posted December 5, 2005 Hey everyone, thanks alot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert Posted December 5, 2005 Share Posted December 5, 2005 No problem at all Alex. That is what we're here for. I'm glad you decided to come over and join our forum. I hope some of the advice helps out. All the best, -Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skee-lo Posted December 19, 2005 Share Posted December 19, 2005 I know you all suggested to do as many reps as possible for each exercise but does it matter how many sets? If so, how many sets would you suggest and how long to rest in between sets? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathryn Posted December 19, 2005 Share Posted December 19, 2005 I didn't read through the longer post, so I may be being redundant, but here are some good body weight exercises: push-ups (works chest, front shoulder and triceps, and you can increase the load by going from one version to another (on the knees, on one knee, on one knee on a balance disc, on toes, on one toe with other foot held up, decline with feet on a chair, etc.) and target different areas by changing hand position (ie: elbows in and hands closer together hits the triceps more). Tricep dips (sit on a chair holding on to the edges then slip off the front of the chair and raise and lower your body with your arms. You can increase the load on these as well: start with knees bent and feet in, then extend feet, then lift one foot, then put feet on another chair, then put a weight in your lap. chin-ups/pull-ups work back and biceps. You can buy an chin-up bar for the doorway, or buy a resistance tube with handles (Lifeline makes some heavy duty ones) and a door attachment ( www.sissel-online.com has a good one that won't slip out of the door) and attach the band at the top of a door and do pulldowns. You can also use the band for lat rows and chest presses, bicep curls, a lot of different moves. Takes up hardly any space , doesn't weight much, and is very versatile. For lower body,, squats and lunges can be very effective. 1-legged squats are quite challenging even with body weight. Add some instability (stand on a folded towel, for example) and the challenge increases, to make it more intense without adding heavy weights. I know there is a book on weight training using just body weight that I've seen at www.amazon.com . Can't remember the title off-hand, but I think it's by Men's Health mag (?) which publishes some good weight training info. For cardio, how about jumproping? All you need is a safe ceiling height (!) and a jumprope. Or even doing the moves without the rope, maybe in circuit fashion, in between weight sets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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